Meal planning really makes everyday life a little easier for me. I hope my meal plan provides you with some inspiration and ideas for your Thermomix® cooking.
How I do my meal plan
- Go through Cookidoo® and look through my saved recipes to see if anything appeals for this week. I often also search for some new recipes based on what I feel like eating.
- Add recipes to My Week, which is the meal planning facility in Cookidoo®.
- I have a heap of recipes that I like that are not on Cookidoo®, but have been collected over the years. Some of these are Thermomix® recipes from cookbooks, and many others are not specific Thermomix® recipes, but in many cases I have adapted them to be made in the Thermomix®.
- If I have a week where I have recipes from different sources, then I will print out my ThermoJo Meal Planning template to use. On this I can write each day's meals and where it is recorded, make a note of the basics I need to restock, snacks to make, and note when we are either eating out of having leftovers.
- I then create my shopping list in Cookidoo®, add in items I need for other recipes and then print out or send these over to Woolworths if I am doing an online shop.
Click here to grab your copy of the ThermoJo Meal Planning template.
This week: Restock Basics and Regulars
Each week there are normally some basics that need restocking, along with some regular favourites to make that form part of lunches or snacks.
This week, I will be making:
- Natural yoghurt (mixing bowl method): This is the simple recipe I use all the time. I only make one litre at a time (recipe is for 1800ml), but I keep the other ingredients the same. It means the yoghurt is a bit thicker. I now use UHT milk, which means you can miss the time consuming steps of heating the milk up and letting it cool down. Just put in your three ingredients and mix for 5 seconds, then straight onto fermentation mode for 8 hours. It couldn't be easier.
- Mayonnaise: there are several recipes for mayo on Cookidoo® and I use this one. I have a video showing the process in my blog post about mayonnaise.
- Banana bread: there is a reason this recipe shows up first on the search page out of the thousands of recipes on Cookidoo®. It really is so good. Will make today!
- Cheat's Sourdough: some bread will make an appearance in my week again. This is my current favourite. I will post soon about my bread “journey”!
- Citrus Margarita: by Friday I reckon I will be ready for a margarita. The Thermomix® TM6 does an incredible job of crushing ice for frozen drinks. This recipe is a winner.
This week: Four Dinners and Plenty of Leftovers
Each week I like to make three main meals from Monday to Wednesday, with leftovers on Thursday. Ideally I also prep those meals and cook ahead so I am not cooking each night.
Friday night is normally a couple of drinks, cheese, maybe some homemade dip or pate. Saturday we may be out, or else I will throw something together from whatever we have, maybe pizza – and sometimes we will have takeaway.
Sunday is meant to be easy, so could just be eggs or grab something from the freezer stash. Sometimes I cook a “proper” meal, which usually then means more leftovers for the week or to add to the freezer.
From last week's meal plan, where I cooked four main meals, I have two meals in the freezer for another week. Perfect!
This week, I will be making:
- Pizza dough: I made this last night. Super easy to make your own dough and it really makes a difference.
- Peanut satay sauce: this was made to go on one of our pizzas with some leftover cooked chicken breast. This is a recipe I have used often, and it makes a lot so you can freeze in portions for later use. I imported this recipe into Cookidoo® from The Recipe Community.
- Creamy tomato and salami fettuccine: a classic that has been around since at least the TM31 Everyday Cookbook. Simple and all in the Thermomix® bowl. I chose this for tonight as I have everything on hand and can do before I shop for the week. I will probably use a tin of tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes – it is still great.
- Sticky sesame chicken: I have heard rave reviews on this recipe and never tried it, so will give it a go tomorrow.
- Murgh makhani (butter chicken): love, love, love this recipe. The curry sauce is incredible. It does take a little time, but well worth it. I will make this a day ahead of eating to let the flavours develop.
- Roti (for two): I have been trying out different flatbread recipes, so thought I would try this one out this week to go with the curry.
Remember, if there are recipes on Cookidoo® that you always make some amendments to, then you can save your versions.
Click here to learn exactly how to edit and save Cookidoo® recipes.
Follow my cooking on the ThermoJo Socials
So now you know what I plan to cook, you can follow along on my social media accounts as I show you the results and some of the methods used.
I post stories on Instagram and Facebook as I cook with my Thermomix®.
Feel free to tag me in your cooking too!
Cookidoo® is the Thermomix® recipe database.
You need an account to view the full recipe details.
Without an account you can see the ingredients but not the cooking method.
Click here to start your Cookidoo® free trial.
